16 RADIOLOGICAL CLEANUP OF ENEWETAK ATOLL addition, there are seven species known only bv drifted seeds on the beaches. !! The most numerous of the larger native plants, other than coconuts, were Scaevola and Messerschmidia (Figures |-20 and 1-21), the first classified as a large shrub and the second as a tree. Scaevola was the most abundant shrub, especially near the shore. [ts leaves had some medicina!| value. Messerschmidia is a small tree with edible leaves. The reported maximum height of both plants was 20 feet. The less common Pisonia grew to heights of 35 to 40 feet. These plants were to exert considerable influence on the effort required during cleanup. !? The larger plants of the atoll served primarily as windbreaks and as nesting places for fish-eating birds. The latter bring to the islands much needed materials, especially phosphorus, in the form of guano. Smaller plants, such as the creeping morning glory, act as a binder to hold the sand eR in place. '3 FIGURE 1-20. SCAEVOLA PLANT. Food producing plants which have been cultivated on Enewetakin the past include coconut, breadfruit and pandanus (Figure |-22 to 1-24). Coconut also was a cash crop in the form of copra, the dried meat ofthe coconut. Vegetable and crop plants which have also been grown on the atoll are tomatoes, chinese cabbage, arrowroot, sorghum, onions and radishes. Most of these were not native to the islands but had been imported by German or Japaneseresidents. !4